Review: Winter Break Up by Carrie Aarons


Note: An advance reader copy (ARC) was provided by the author.

Cooler weather abounds, but Carrie Aarons's new holiday romance is heating things up! Winter Break Up is a standalone featuring Emily Palmer and Mercer Russell, the main characters who were high school sweethearts but have lived separate lives ever since Emily decided a long distance relationship would be difficult for them to maintain. More than three years later, Emily and her brother, Charlie, are college seniors on their winter break and back on their family's Christmas tree farm, helping their parents. Another pair of helping hands comes in the form of none other than Mercer, Charlie's best friend and yes, Emily's ex. They know that this could be the last time they're all together before their lives change upon graduation--with Emily continuing to pursue her dream of becoming a nurse, Charlie going off to Silicon Valley, and Mercer ready to be signed to a professional hockey team. This may be the last chance for Emily and Mercer to be in the same place at the same time. Maybe this is one final shot at forever...or for her to break his heart again.

Ah, young love! It can be sweet when you're experiencing first love; but on the flip side, it can be devastating when you're hit by your first heartbreak. When it came to Emily and Mercer's romance, they had so many good memories and one heartrending one. Working together on her family's Christmas farm, being back in their hometown, and spending time with mutual friends had a hint of forced proximity to their story, but not the kind wherein they were stuck with each other and had nowhere else to go. I liked that there was some struggle with regards to how to be around one another in the first few chapters, and I appreciated that they weren't moping around for an extended period of time after their break-up. They lived typical college lives, as they should have. The whole suggestion of engaging in a fling with no strings attached played out as one would expect it would. Winter Break Up was a fairly lighthearted read with some angst thrown into the mix, and it made for a wholly entertaining holiday romance read. I'm giving it four stars.

Release Date: 17 November 2023

Date Read: 17 November 2023

Learn more about Carrie Aarons.

Purchase Winter Break Up on Amazon.

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